DHS to hold public meetings in your areafrom ISEEThe US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is holding public meetings on the Ammonium Nitrate Security Program Proposed Rule and the Department is seeking public comment on the Proposed Rule.

On August 3, 2011, the DHS published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for the Ammonium Nitrate Security Program, which describes DHS's proposal to regulate the sale and transfer of ammonium nitrate.

Through the Ammonium Nitrate Security Program, DHS seeks to prevent the misappropriation or use of ammonium nitrate in an act of terrorism.

Comments on the proposed rule are due on or before December 1, 2011 here.More

Business is
booming for Nampa dam-blasting firmfrom Idaho StatesmanIdahoans Morris Hans Knudsen and Harry Morrison created a business empire building dams, and now Jerry Dilley has made a business out of blowing them up. Dilley, the owner of Superior Blasting in Nampa, has
become an expert at demolishing dams to restore free-flowing rivers like the Sandy and Elk Creek in Oregon. Now he and his team of seven Idahoans are helping to demolish the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams at Washington's Olympic Peninsula.More

Queensland, Australia locals fuming as mine blasts send toxic clouds into neighborhoodfrom The
AustralianClouds of toxic gas are regularly billowing out of Queensland's giant open-cut coalmines from explosive blasts but neighboring residents say they are not being warned about the dangers of these "fume events." Official data reveals that since January, the fumes - "oxides of nitrogen" that have caused deaths and injuries at and near mines overseas - have reportedly travelled outside safe exclusion zones 33 times at 16 Queensland
coalmines. More

LTI offers a rock face profiling system that enables you to take accurate measurements to verify offsets and bench heights, drill
hole angles and depths as well as minimum and optimum burdens. Using this laser-based, easy to learn system will save you time and money and decrease your safety liabilities. MORE

House bill would block OSHA regulations; AFL-CIO cries foulfrom The HillSparking criticism from organized labor, House Republicans have unveiled a spending bill that
would block the Obama administration from issuing controversial workplace safety and health regulations. Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., chairman of the House Labor, Health and Human Services Subcommittee, has crafted a bill that would block a handful of federal safety regulations and decrease discretionary spending levels. The riders on the regulations have quickly attracted criticism from the Obama administration and the AFL-CIO.More

Wisconsin mine plans pit jobs against
environmentfrom Huffington PostThe idyllic Penokee Range is a hiker's paradise, a thickly forested ridge running 20 miles from Lake Superior's shoreline across far northwestern Wisconsin. It's a kaleidoscope of color in autumn, a postcard perfect snowscape in winter.
Yet as the economy lags, it's an increasingly enticing target for the mining industry, and the much-needed jobs it brings.More

Mining in Wisconsin: Promise or peril?from Wisconsin State JournalFor Mayor Joe Barabe, the $1.5 billion iron ore mine that would be dug into the top of a heavily wooded and deeply green ridge in the nearby Penokee Hills is just what his Northern Wisconsin city of about 700 needs. "This is a dream we’ve been waiting 100 years for," said Barabe, a lifelong
resident. "We want a mine. We want the jobs. We want everything that comes with it."More

Gold industry awaits
breakthroughfrom Fin24South Africa's gold mining industry is under such cost pressure, owing to gold reserves that are too deep to be mined profitably, that within a decade or two this could mean the end of the industry. That's why there is great excitement about a
promising new technology which could make deep underground mining possible and ensure the future of the industry.More

Canadian gold mine project sows discord in Romaniafrom AFP via GoogleOn the surface, it is just one of the many picturesque villages of Transylvania, a region called Romania's "national treasure" by Britain's Prince Charles for its stunning nature. But Rosia Montana, a former Roman site in the northwest, lies on one of the biggest gold deposits in Europe: a blessing for some, a
malediction for others.More

'Theory of constraint'
will help increase South African mine production - business consultantfrom Creamer Media's Mining WeeklyBusiness consultancy Goldratt for Mining is assisting the mining industry to increase output by exploiting the production chain's weakest link. The average daily
output of most mining operations is only between 50 percent and 60 percent of its highest historical output achieved, and few reach or exceed 70 percent, says Goldratt for Mining MD Henning du Preez.More

Concrete dam blown up for
documentaryfrom Journal of CommerceWanted: Use of construction site, anywhere in the world, located on open water. Must be willing to allow construction and demolition of a concrete dam using Second World War-style aerial bomb. That's the gist of an advertisement
placed on the internet by Windfall Films of London and Hugh Hunt of Cambridge University's department of engineering. More